If you bring the Holy Quran and read the previous verse to the verse you are mentioning, then the subject is explained there. And also if you read a few verses following this verse, then it will be made very clear. The Holy Quran discusses hell in relation to men in various places. And in one place, the one you have mentioned, it appears that every man, whether he is a pious man or an evil person, will have to go through the experience of hell.
And from there he will emerge to whatever Allah’s fate has meted out to him, heaven or hell. In another place, Allah tells us that there will be certain people who will be kept so far away from hell that they will not even hear the mildest whisper of hell. So far away that they won’t even hear a small gurgling or vibration of some noise from hell. So how could these two verses agree with each other in subject? How could you bring them to accord with one another? That is the point. In reality, the subject which is discussed there, the verse which is discussed there, the one you have mentioned, can be interpreted in two ways.
Number one, as I have referred, if you read the subject matter just before, those who are addressed here are the evil people, not the pious men. Minkum means you, the evil ones. All of you will have to be subjected to hell, none would escape the punishment. That is, the address is not to the entire mankind, but to a group among the mankind. And the second is that even also the pious men are addressed in that, but the hell is widened in meaning. Some pious men go through the experience of hell in this world, and for some, a different hell is awaiting after death.
So it is not possible for any man not to taste the suffering. Being a pious man or an evil man, they have to go through some sort of suffering. For the pious, the suffering is of volition. They can avoid that suffering, but they face it eye to eye and accept it for the sake of Allah. Being a pious man or an evil man, they have to go through some sort of suffering. For the pious, the suffering is of volition. They can avoid that suffering, but they face it eye to eye and accept it for the sake of Allah.
So that hell is limited to this earth. And having experienced that hell, what is left for them is only heaven. So that hell, the concept of hell here in this regard, will have to be broadened. So either you look at the people who are addressed in a limited way, and by hell you may then mean the hell of the future after death. Or you broaden the people who are addressed and extend this address to the whole mankind, but then define the hell in a particular way.
Then no paradox remains. Why do we have to adopt this course? Not to defend the Holy Quran from our own point of view, or to defend the holy people, but because the established principle is this, that there is no paradox in the creation of Allah. And it’s impossible for one verse of the Holy Quran to contradict another verse, to come into clash with the other verse.
So because we know the two very clear positions, that the pious man will not suffer even nearness to hell in the life to come. So in view of this verse, the verse you have mentioned has to be interpreted somehow. And I think this is the best solution.
